Thursday, April 21, 2005

New Pope Reconsidered

Early I stated that it seemed like this new pope might just be more of the same so maybe it wasn't too much worse than it could have been. I think I have to reconsider that statement.

I'm not Catholic, so I don't come to the table with a mound of knowledge about who is who in the church and am only slowly piecing together an understanding of who this pope is. And the more I learn, the more he scares me.

Perhaps it is juvenile, but when I look at him, I can't help but feel like he is evil. John Paul II looked jovial even when his politics werer scary, but Benedict XVI would look frightening even if he were kissing a baby or petting a kitten. Maybe especially if he were kissing a baby or petting a kitten. Perhaps this is from the Star Wars movies being too strong an influence in my developmental years and his uncanny resemblence to the Emperor, but I can't shake it.

Last night at dinner friends suggested that it was ok that he was creepy and scary, cause he is old and will die soon. I somehow don't buy it for a second. Evil old men keep right on living for terribly long times. I have this gut feeling that he is going to cling to that position til he is over 100.

But again, who knows? I just find the fellow creepy and wish the papers would stop putting his face on everything. I keep expecting lightning to shoot out of his hands as he cackles watching the suffering of a young jedi knight.

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